Folding machine and method



Nov. 16 1926.

A. R. RIDDERSTROM FOLDING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Feb. 11,A 1924 ineen/tbl' `fram M d M Patented Nov. l5, i926.

Mlll'i?. STATES,

Aralar ANDREW R. RDDERSTROM, OF NAHATT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSGNOR TO BEACON FOLDNG- MACHINE COMPANY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING MACHINE AND METHOD.

Application filed February 11, 1924. Serial No. 692,168.

The present invention relates to methods of and machines for operating upon iiexible material, and more particularly to methods of and machines for folding the margins of shoe uppers, such as vamps, quarters, tips, tongues and the like.

Folding machines of the above-described character, of the step-by-step-feed type, are provided with a plow that initiates a fold in the margin of the material, and with a fold presser that presses down the fold initiated by the plow. When folding shoe uppers provi-ded with sharply convex curves, it is necessary to turn the stock very abruptly, which often results in moving` the stock out of range of the fold presser. If the pressing face of the fold presser be increased, so as to enable it to operate upon stock having sharply convex curves., the increased-area of the fold presser will engage the free edge of straight portions of the folded margin prematurely. An object of the present invention is to adapt the fold presser for operation upon stock havin-g both convex and straight margins, and with this end in view, a feature of the invention resides in increasing the pressing face of the fold presser to enable it to operate upon sharply convex margins, but providing it with a recess which the free edge of a straight folded margin may enter. to prevent its becoming pressed prematurely.

The product of present-day folding machines has a tendency to twist.' This tendency becomes very noticeable when the stock is very narrow. The twist-ing effect is believed to be due to the fact that the folded iortions of the margin are vpressed against the stock at points a little to one side of the normal to the' margin. By'lifting the stock towards the folded margin at the moment of pressing, this twisting tendency is reduced; and a further object of the invention is to provide a method and' machine for effecting this result.

Other and further objects will appear hereinafter. W ith these. objects in view, the invention consists of the improved-method and machine a preferred embodiment of which is illustrated and described herein. It is intended to express in the appended claims all the novelty that theinvention may possess.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation, with parts broken away and mechanism will not other parts omitted', for clearness, of the forward portion of a machine constructed according to' a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a section taken upon the line 2-2 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 8 is section taken upon the line 3-3 of Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows, upon a larger scale; Fig. 4 is a section taken upon the line 4--4 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 5 is a view corresionding to Fig. 4, showing the operation upon a convex curve; Fig. 6 is a section taken upon the line 6-6 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. .7 is a side elevation showing the mounting of the knives.

The invention is illustrated in its preferred form as appliedto a folding machine for folding the margins of shoe uppers, such as tongues, but is applicable also to the folding of binding strips around shoe uppers to which they are sewed and to other uses. The machine is provided with a lower feed' block 41 and an upper feed point 30, between which a shoe upper, like a tongue 2, is adapted to be intermittently gripped, and by which it is adapted to be fed or advanced, step by step, over a platform or support 24. vDuring` this feed movement, the edge of the shoe upper first engages a gage 456, that is secured at 438 to the upper end of a bracket 6l, after which it is advanced to and past two cooperating knives 352 and 353. rlhe knife 853 is stationary, but the knife 352 may be thrown into operation, at the will of the operator, so as to snip or slit the margin of the upper, at will, and to this end, it is pivoted at 856 on the upper end of the same bracket- 6l, and is connected by a link 354 to mechanism (not shown) under the control of the operator, as is more fully explained in a copending application, Serial No. 652,169, filed July 17, Whether the margin is snipped or not, as may be desired, it is `then advanced beyond a retainer 153 that acts to hold the stock against the support during pauses in the feed', but that is raised during the feeding movement. The other functions performed by the retainer and the retainer-operating be described herein, because full?7 described in atents Nos. 1,527,- 395 and 1,527,396, granted February 24, 1925,

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because other retainers and other retaineroperating mechanisms may be employed without departing from the present invention. A plow 32 then acts to initiate a fold in the margin of the material, and a fold presser 42 subsequently presses the fold fiat against the body of the material. The feed mechanism remains idle while the fold presser is pressing the fold, and the fold presser is ineffective during the feeding` of the work.

The fold presser 42 is floatingly pivoted at 146, Fig. 1, to a link 148 the other end of which is operated from a driving shaft 66, as is more fully described in the abovementioned patents. The exterior surface of the fold presser is cylindrical, as shown at 156, Figs. 1 and 3, so as to rock within a cylindrical bearing 158 provided at the free end of an arm 160 the other end of which is pivoted at 162, Fig. 2. The fold presser is spring-pressed towards the support 24 by a compression spring 166, Fig. 2, mounted upon a rod 168 extending through an opening (not shown) in the arm 160 and screwthreaded into the frame. By means of this construction, the fold presser is pivotally actuated in a plane at right angles to the plane of feed, with a yielding action of the fold presser upon the fold, relieving the strain thereon, while permitting a positive separation of the fold presser from the upper by the link 148.

The feeding mechanism, comprising the feed block 41 and the feed point 30, is also driven from the driving shaft 66 by mechanism more fully described in the abovenamed patents. The feed block 41 is shown more particularly in Fig. 1 as rigidly secured to, or integral with, a holder 93 that is secured, as by a set screw (not shown), to a rocking or oscillating support 94. rllhe rocking support is pivotally mounted about rod v96 that is secured to the frame of the machine by a screw (not shown). The feed point is pivotally mounted at 110 upon the rocking support 94, so as to be rocked therewith and with the lower feed block 41.

An arm member 36 is alsov pivotally n'iounted to rock or oscillate about the rod 96. The member 36 is provided withV a diagonally disposed cylindrical opening 100 within which is slidingly mounted a diagonally cylindrical block 102 the upper flat face of which is substantially horizontal. as shown at 104. The angle of inclination of the opening 100 is preferably in the neighborhood of thirty degrees. rllhe cylindrical block 102 is adapted to be actuated by an eccentric or crank pin 106 of the driving shaft 66. The eccentric or crank pin is rotatably mounted in the block 102-and extends through an opening 108 of the rocking member 36. Rotative movement of the shaft 66 will be converted by the eccentric into combined sliding and oscillating or rotative movement ofthe block 102 and this, in turn, will effect a rocking movement of the rocking member 36 about the iod 96. A compression coiled spring 38, interposed between the rocking support 34 and the rocking member 36, yieldingly connects the rocking support to the rocking member 36 to cause them to rock or oscillate togetl er, as a unit, as is described more fully in the said copending application, Serial No. 652,160 and in another copending application, Serial No. 668,345, tiled October 13, 1923. rlChe coiled spring 38 yieldingly maintains an arm 39 of the rocking support in engagement with an adjustable portion of the rocking member 36. The adjustable portion 40 of the rocking member 36 is shown as a set screw.

rllhe feed point 30 is normally yieldingly maintained in contact with trie feet block 41 by a compression coil spring 112 coiled about a threaded rod 114 extending through an opening 116 in the feed-point arm 118 and secured at 43 to the rocking support 94. By means of the threads upon the rod 114, the pressure of the spring 112 upon the feed point may be adjusted, the ends of the spring being` confined between the feedpoint arm 118 and a knurled nut 124 that is threaded upon the rod 114. The feed-point arm 118 is provided with an adjustable screw 120. rlhe upper facie 104 of the block 102 is adapted to engage the screw 120, thereby to raise the feed point in opposition to the pressure of the spring 112. An additional adjustable member 123 is provided to prevent the feed point becoming lowered into contact with the feed block when the machine is ruiming idly, thereby preventing the feed point poundingV uselessly against the feed block when no stock is inter, osed.

As the driving shaft 66 is rotated, the rocking support 94 is rocked up and down, as viewed in Fig. 2, imparting an oscillating movement to the lower feed block 41 and the upper feed point 30 which are carried thereby. During the down movement, the feed point 30 will be separated from the feed block 41 by the action of the cylindrical block 102, which then occupies its upper positions. During the up movement, the block 102 will lie in the lower portions of the cylindrical opening 100, and the feed point will be spring-pressed into engagement with the feed block, which will thus advance to the fold presser the upper clamped therebetween.

The plow 32 is intermediately carried upon a lever 34 one end of which is pivoted at 130 to the frame of the machine in such fashion as to permit the lever to pivot in a horizontal plane. The plow therefore moves in substantially the plane of the upper, but at an angle to the direction of feed. The other end of the lever 34 is yielding-ly rocled in the o 3 aosite direction the ,s ring 7 D 132 will cause the plow to pivot in the opposite direction. The plow is thus oscillated once corresponding to each rocking movement of the rocking arm 36.

Summarizing the operation of the preferred machine, as thus far described, the shoe upper is advanced over the support 24, .step by step, by the feed point 30 and the feed bloclr` 4l; the plow 32 is actuated during pauses in the feed to initiate a fold in .successive portions of the margin, step by step; and the fold presser 42, is actuated step by step, during pauses in the feed, to press fiat the folds successively initiated by the fold presser' during immediately prior pauses in the feed. Each folded portionfis pressed while the next succeeding portion is being folded. rlhe feed elements may feed by shorter or longer feed steps, as desired, and to this end, in the specific embodiment of the invention herein illustrated, the roclring member 36 and the rocking support 94 may be rocked or oscillated as a unit, provision being made, however, for adj ustably limiting the degree of oscillation of the rocking support 94, and, therefore, adjustably limiting the lengths of the feed steps of the feed block 4l and the feed point 30 that are carried by the rocking support 94, all asis more fully described in the above-named applications, Serial Nos. 652,169 and 568,345.

The fold pressers heretofore employed in commercial folding machines have possessed a fold-pressing area correspondingV somewhat tothe area indicated at 5. So long as straight margins only are operated on, a fold presser of this character is fully satisfactory, as will be understood from an inspection of Fig. 4. TWhen convex margins are encountered` the stock is liable to be turned out of the range of action of the fold presser, as will be clear from Fig. 5. The fold presser is therefore provided with an extension 7 that extends forward of the portion 5, at right angles to the direction of feed in a position beyond the folded portion of the margin where the folded portion is straight, as illustrated in Fig. 4, so as to engage convex margins of the stock, as illustrated in Fig. 5. Such an extension would be liable to engage the free edge of the folded margin, at 9, Fig. 4, before the fold had yet been pressed down. which would exert tension upon the portion l1 of the margin in rear of the portion 9. The fold presser is stantially parallel to the support 24, so as to raise parallel to itself the whole portion of the stock adjacent to the folded margin against which the folded margin is to be pressed.

Many details of the illustrative machine have not been illustrated herein, and'many illustrated parts have not been described, because unnecessary to an understanding of the present invention, and because thev invention may equally well be embodied in other machines. Full particulars of the illustrative machine may be obtained in the and applications. The elements of novelty, furthermore, though fully explained, are by no means restricted to the exact embodiments thereof that are illustrated and described herein. Modifications and changes will readily occur to persons skilled in the art, and all such are considaforesaid pat-ents ered to fall within the scope of the invention,Y

as delined in the appended claims.

Vhat is claimed is: l. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheet material, I

means for folding a portion of the material across the plane of the sheet, anda fold presser for pressing the folded material, the fold presser having a fold-pressing face and an extension of the fold-pressing face disposed substantially at right angles to the line of feed in a position a substantial distance beyond the folded portion of the material when the folded portion of the material is straight.

2. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheet material, means for folding a portion of the material acrossy the plane of the sheet, and a fold presser for pressing the folded material, the fold presser having a fold-pressing face and an extension of the fold-pressing posed substantially at right angles to the line of feed in a position beyond the folded portion of the material when the folded portion of the material is straight, and being provided with a recess between the foldpressing face and the extension, the recess being disposed on the side of the fold presser adjacent to the folding means.

3. A method of folding the margin of a sheet of flexible material that comprises folding the margin, raising the portion of the sheet adjacent to the folding margin parallel to itself, and pressing the folded margin against the raised portion of the sheet.

4. A method of folding the margin of a llO face dissheet yof flexible material that comprises feeding the material step by step, folding successive portions of the margin, successively raising the portions of the sheet adjacent to the successively folded portions of the margin parallel to themselves, and pressing the folded portions of the margin against the successively raised portions of the sheet.

5. A folding machine having, in combination, a support, means for feeding material over the support, means for folding the material, a fold presser for pressing the folded material, and an anvil raised above and parallel to the support against which the fold presser is adapted to press the folded portions of the material.

6. A folding machine having, in combination, a support, means for feeding material over the support, a plow for folding the margin of the material, and a fold presser and an anvil for pressing the folded margin, the fold presser having a fold-pressing face and an extension of the fold-pressing face disposed substantially at right angles to the line of feed in a position beyond the folded portion of the margin when the folded portion of the margin is straight and being provided with a recess between the fold-pressing face and the extension, and the anvil being raised above and parallel to the support.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 9th day of February, 1924,

ANDREW R. RIDDERSTROM. 

